The BA Top 31 are below. I do think it’s a bit silly, though, to publish such long lists. The BA Top 10 grew into the Top 20, then Top 30, and now Top 31. BA analysts admit privately that such long lists are meaningless, because once you get past twenty or so these players are so far on the fringe that ranking them really doesn’t mean much.

That’s why the FutureAngels.com Top 10 prospects list is limited to ten. Longer lists are really more an excuse to write about more players — which is fine, but I don’t see the point in ranking them.

BA studies a few years ago found that only 1 of 10 minor leaguers ever set foot in a big league dugout, and of those only 1 of 4 will last five years in the majors. Combine the numbers, and it tells you that only 1 of 40 players in a minor league system will be a major league regular. If in a typical year a minor league system has about 200 players under contract, the 1 in 40 rule means that only five will be major league regulars. The 1 in 10 means that 20 of them will get to the majors for at least one game. So I really can’t see the point in ad nauseam lists, other than to just talk about a lot of players who are unlikely to reach the majors.

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